Ideas on What to Take to a Potluck Dinner

Potluck dinner is a fun way to organize a get-together for friends and family members at low cost. Since everybody brings something in, nobody gets too overworked and stressed, so that the dinner can proceed in a relaxed and enjoyable way. The modern idea of a potluck dinner is a themed party that revolves around a certain culture such as Mexican or Italian, but traditional potluck dinners or movie nights are still a frequent occurrence.

Other People Are Reading

Culture-Themed Potluck Dinner

It is common to arrange a potluck dinner around a specific culture theme. For a Mexican night, you can prepare dishes such as guacamole, fajitas, chili, Mexican fried beans and salsa and chocolate mousse for desert. If Italian food is the theme, you could contribute antipasti such as marinated artichokes, Gorgonzola cheese, green olives, peppers, chunk tuna, prosciutto and salami slices. Baked mushrooms with goat cheese stuffing, baked oysters, mini meatballs with tomato sauce and macaroni salad make wonderful side dishes or even main dishes. Freshly made or purchased breads such as garlic focaccia, crostini or bruschetta are always a nice addition. Desserts could include tiramisu, almond biscotti, or mascarpone cheese.

Traditional Potlucks

Traditional potluck dinners include casseroles, turkey, salads, breads, pastas, beef stews, apple pies, chocolate cakes or cookies. The recipes are usually passed down from generation to generation and carefully guarded, so a traditional potluck dinner can be a really impressive combination of culinary masterpieces. Your grandmother's divine double-baked potatoes with sage would be a desirable contribution to such a potluck dinner. Turkey roast, sauteed vegetables, mushed or baked potatoes, sweet potato fries, fresh salads are the kinds of comfort foods that you bring to a potluck party.

Season-Themed Potlucks

Season-themed potlucks are a fun variation of a potluck dinner. A spring party would revolve around freshly gathered farm foods such as first potatoes, fresh peppers or asparagus served with hot dogs or hamburgers. Strawberries, peaches or cherries could be served as side dishes or incorporated into deserts such as ice cream, pies, pastries or smoothies. Summer parties sing grilled tuna or salmon or barbecued steak, grilled potatoes and fresh exotic salads such as papaya-avocado salad with sunflower and pumpkin seeds. Do not forget about aromatic alcoholic or alcohol-free punches or sangria. Fall potlucks are all about pumpkins and apples. Pumpkin soup can be followed by roasted turkey served with squash cubes and sauteed zucchini, and apple pie with vanilla ice cream for desert.

Movie Night

Movie night potlucks are all about comfort foods. Pizzas, finger foods such as crostini with cold cuts, dips and salads are all great for friendly gatherings. Since movie night potlucks are indoor and sedentary events, serving light food may be of importance. Tuna-rice salad, or mixed-greens salads with exotic ingredients such as mandarins and nuts or pears and goat cheese are both delicious and nutritious choices. Grilled, as opposed to fried, chicken wings or thighsmand sides of sauteed veggie are great foods.

The Environmental Working Group released it’s annual Clean Fifteen, a list of 15 fruits and vegetables that are perfectly safe even when they aren’t organic. This year’s list includes: Asparagus Avocado Cabbage Cantaloupe Cauliflower Eggplant Grapefruit Kiwi Mangoes Onions Papayas …
Read more

New Years Eve has always been one of my favorite holidays. Not only does it serve as the perfect excuse to buy a new dress and let someone else paint your nails for once, but it also provides great reason …
Read more